EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Task Force was created by Section 389(d)(3) of P.L. 104-127 in response to a controversy in Colorado regarding the attempt by the Forest Service to use its permitting authority to require that urban and agricultural water users relinquish a part of their water supply in order to provide water for the secondary purposes of the National Forest. The Task Force reviewed this controversy, and also considered related issues that were brought to its attention during the course of Task Force proceedings. These related issues included attempts by the Forest Service in Arizona to use its permitting authority to require that grazing allottees transfer title to non-federal water rights obtained under State law to the United States, and the assertion by the United States that McCarran Amendment water rights adjudications pending in Montana, Colorado, Idaho, and elsewhere in the west would not result in a binding determination of the rights to use water derived from National Forests.
The Task Force held hearings in Colorado, California, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. Oral and written testimony was provided by water users, conservation groups, environmental groups, State officials, and current and former Federal employees. The Task Force spent considerable time searching for and discussing alternatives which would avoid or reduce conflict between the Forest Service and water users, many of which are incorporated within the Recommendations and Responses to the questions presented to the Task Force in Section 389(d)(3).
The Task Force concludes that:
(1) Congress has not delegated to the Forest Service the authority necessary to allow it to require that water users relinquish a part of their existing water supply or transfer their water rights to the United States as a condition of the grant or renewal of federal permits;
(2) Decrees entered in McCarran Amendment water rights adjudications are intended to result in a binding allocation of the rights to the use of water for federal and non-federal purposes, including the use of water to attain the primary and secondary purposes of the National Forests. Accordingly, the Forest Service may not use its permitting authority to reallocate or otherwise obtain water for National Forest purposes from non-federal water rights which have been or will be recognized in McCarran proceedings; and
(3) The Forest Service must attain the secondary purposes of the National Forests by obtaining and exercising water rights in accordance with state and federal law and by working with owners of non-federal water rights to achieve National Forest purposes without interfering with the diversion, storage, and use of water for non-federal purposes. The use of these approaches will avoid the circumstances that have motivated the Forest Service to act in a manner which exceeds its legal authority.
Part VII of this Report contains the Task Force Recommendations and Response to Questions Presented in Section 389(d)(3). Part IX of this Report contains Separate Views.